Frequency separation for multiple bluetooth devices residing on a single platform

ABSTRACT

A single host device, comprising a plurality of Bluetooth devices, estimates bandwidth requirements such as maximum rates and/or an average data rate expected by each of a plurality of Bluetooth applications to be run on the single host. For each Bluetooth device, available frequencies utilized are determined based on the estimated bandwidth requirements. Each of the plurality of Bluetooth applications is allocated to corresponding one or more Bluetooth devices based on the determined available frequencies so as to, for example, concurrently run corresponding Bluetooth applications on the single host. The determined available frequencies are assigned to corresponding Bluetooth devices based on the estimated bandwidth requirements. The determined available frequencies and the plurality of Bluetooth applications may be reassigned and reallocated, respectively. Each of plurality of Bluetooth applications is allocated to the corresponding one or more Bluetooth devices based on the assigned/reassigned available frequencies and/or the estimated bandwidth requirements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Not Applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to wireless communication.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate tofrequency separation for multiple Bluetooth devices residing on a singleplatform.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Some conventional communication systems are known to support wirelessand wireline communication between wireless and/or wirelinecommunication devices. Such communication systems range from nationaland/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet, and topoint-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communicationsystem is designed, and hence operates, in accordance with relevantcommunication standards. For instance, wireless communication systemsmay operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but notlimited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services(AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM),code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distributionsystems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS),and/or variations thereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, for example, a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, or home entertainment equipment, communicates directly orindirectly with other wireless communication devices. For directcommunications, also known as point-to-point communications, theparticipating wireless communication devices tune their receivers andtransmitters to the same channel, or channels, and communicate via thosechannel(s). Each channel may utilize one or more of the plurality ofradio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system. Forindirect wireless communication, each wireless communication devicecommunicates directly with an associated base station, for example, forcellular services, and/or an associated access point, for example, foran in-home or in-building wireless network, via an assigned channel orchannels.

In order for each wireless communication device to participate inwireless communication session, it utilizes a built-in radiotransceiver, which comprises a receiver and a transmitter, or it iscoupled to an associated radio transceiver, for example, a station forin-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, or a RFmodem. The transmitter converts data into RF signals by modulating thedata in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.However, different communication systems may use different standards,for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard and the Bluetooth standard, whichmay share the same RF spectrum.

In order to alleviate signal interference from sharing an RF spectrumwith other communication systems, the Bluetooth standard allowsfrequency hopping where information is transmitted at variousfrequencies. In this manner, the energy of the transmitted signal isspread across the RF spectrum in 79 channels with each channel separatedby 1 MHz, between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz. The Bluetooth standard allows1600 frequency hops per second. The advantage of the frequency hoppingsystem is that it spreads information across a wide band of frequencies.Therefore, signals transmitted by other systems using a portion of thesame frequency spectrum may appear to be noise to only some of thefrequencies used by Bluetooth in frequency hopping. Similarly, only aportion of Bluetooth transmission may interfere with signals transmittedby other systems.

Two or more Bluetooth devices, up to a total of eight devices, maycomprise a piconet with one master device and up to seven slave devices.The piconet may share a common communication data channel that presentlymay have a total capacity of 1 megabits per second (Mbps), up to atheoretical maximum of 3 Mbps. This data channel is divided in to timeslots of 625 microseconds. Although a master device may initiate contactwith any slave device, a slave device may only respond to a masterdevice. A piconet link between a master device and a slave device may beeither synchronous connectionless oriented (SCO) or asynchronousconnectionless (ACL). The piconet may support up to three SCO links, andany remaining bandwidth may be utilized by ACL links.

At the present time, a host device, or a host platform, for example, apersonal computer (PC), may use the Bluetooth standard for a wirelesskeyboard and a wireless mouse applications. A single Bluetoothcommunication device on the PC may transmit and receive signals relatedto the wireless keyboard and the wireless mouse. However, as Bluetoothbecomes more ubiquitous, many other Bluetooth applications, such asvoice communication, and/or audio and/or video data transfer, may beadded to the PC. The Bluetooth applications on the PC may then bebandwidth limited. Therefore, the PC may require more than one Bluetoothcommunication device in order to accommodate the additional devices thatwish to communicate via the Bluetooth standard. This may lead toadditional interference among the different Bluetooth communicationdevices that may be transmitting at the same time.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for frequency separation for multiple Bluetoothdevices residing on a single platform, substantially as shown in and/ordescribed in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forthmore completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a Bluetooth piconet that may be utilized inconnection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating host devices that may be utilizedin connection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 a is a diagram illustrating frequency hopping, in connection withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 b is a graph illustrating adaptive frequency hopping, inconnection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 a is a block diagram illustrating a host device with multipleBluetooth communication devices, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 b is a graph illustrating frequencies transmitted by twoBluetooth communication devices, in connection with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 c is a diagram illustrating frequencies assigned to two Bluetoothcommunication devices, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating frequency separationfor multiple Bluetooth communication devices on a single host device, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating frequency separationfor multiple Bluetooth communication devices on a single host devicewith frequency reassignment and application reallocation, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor frequency separation for multiple Bluetooth communication devicesresiding on a single platform, or host device. Various aspects of theinvention may provide support for a plurality of Bluetooth devices thatreside on a single host device to transmit signals while reducing signalinterference among the transmitted signals. Aspects of the invention maycomprise determining initial frequencies to be utilized by a pluralityof Bluetooth communication devices residing on a single host device. Afirst portion of the determined initial frequencies may be assigned to afirst of the plurality of Bluetooth communication devices. At least asecond portion of the determined initial frequencies selected from aremaining portion of the determined initial frequencies may be assignedto at least a second of the plurality of Bluetooth devices.

It may be determined whether the determined initial frequencies areexperiencing interference, or have been interfered with, by otherwireless communication devices. The interference on the determinedinitial frequencies may be dynamically determined. At least a portion ofthe determined initial frequencies that is experiencing interference, orhas been interfered with, may be eliminated from the determined initialfrequencies. The eliminating of the initial frequencies may be donedynamically and the determined initial frequencies re-assigned based onthe eliminating.

FIG. 1 illustrates a Bluetooth piconet that may be utilized inconnection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1,there is shown a personal computer (PC) 100, a laptop 110, and apersonal digital assistant (PDA) 120. These three host devices, or hostplatforms, may each be Bluetooth enabled. Each host device may have aBluetooth application and a Bluetooth communication device fortransmitting and receiving signals. Each host device may then beconsidered to be a Bluetooth device. Up to eight Bluetooth devices maycommunicate with each other in a local network called a piconet. In agiven piconet, only one Bluetooth device may be a master, while theothers may be slaves.

The process for designating a master may be a dynamic process each timea piconet is set up. A Bluetooth device may be a member of multiplepiconets, where it may be designated as a master device for one piconet,and a slave device for another piconet. Each Bluetooth device may use analgorithm that takes into account different variables, for example,performance and power requirements, in deciding whether it may want tobe a master device. For example, since transmitting signals to locateother Bluetooth devices to form a piconet may take power andtransmission bandwidth, a Bluetooth device may wait passively for otherBluetooth devices to try to establish a piconet. A Bluetooth device thatfinds other Bluetooth devices, and establishes a connection with one ormore Bluetooth devices, may be designated as the master Bluetooth devicefor that piconet. Multiple piconets that may have connection with eachother, for example, where a Bluetooth device may be a member of morethan one piconet, may be referred to as a scatternet.

Although only a single piconet is illustrated, in a system comprising aplurality of piconets, it may be possible for a Bluetooth device tooperate as a master device in one piconet and as a slave device in anadjacent piconet. For example, a Bluetooth device A may operate as amaster device in a first piconet P₁ and as a slave device in a secondpiconet P₂. In another example, the Bluetooth device A may operate as aslave device in a first piconet P₁ and as a master device in a secondpiconet P₂. A master device, for example, the PC 100, may communicatewith each of the slave devices, for example, the laptop 110 and the PDA120. However, the slave devices may not communicate directly with eachother. When the master device moves out of range of communication, thepiconet may be destroyed until another Bluetooth device establishes apiconet.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating host devices that may be utilizedin connection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2,there is shown host devices 200 and 205. The host device 200 maycomprise a Bluetooth application 210, a Bluetooth communication device212, and an antenna 214. The host device 205 may comprise a Bluetoothapplication 220, a Bluetooth communication device 222, and an antenna224. The host devices 200 and 205 may be, for example, a cellular phoneand a cellular hands-free accessory, respectively, that may allow acellular phone user to carry on a conversation without having to holdthe cellular phone. In this respect, the host device 205 may furthercomprise a microphone 226 and a speaker/earpiece 228. The Bluetoothcommunication devices 212 and 222 may comprise suitable logic, circuitryand/or code that may be adapted to communicate data, command and/orstatus with the Bluetooth applications 210 and 220 on the host devices200 and/or 205, respectively. The Bluetooth communication devices 212and 222 may also be adapted to communicate data, via antennas 214 and224, respectively, with other Bluetooth devices.

In operation, a user of the host device 200, which may be a cellularphone enabled for Bluetooth, for example, may wish to utilize aBluetooth enabled hands-free kit, which may be the host device 205, forexample. The hands-free kit and the cellular phone, when turned on, maycommunicate with each other to establish a piconet. The cellular phone,which may be the host device 200, may be the master device and thehands-free kit, which may be the host device 205, may be the slavedevice. As a slave device, the host device 205 may only respond torequests from the master device, for example, the host device 200. Inthe description below, any transmission from the slave device, forexample, the host device 205, may be assumed to be in response to arequest from the master device, for example, the host device 200.

The cellular phone user may initiate a call on the cellular phone, forexample, the host device 200. The audio signal at the cellular phone maybe communicated to the Bluetooth communication device 212. The Bluetoothcommunication device 212 may modulate the audio signal to RF signal asrequired by the Bluetooth standard, and may transmit the RF signal viathe antenna 214. The Bluetooth communication device 222 may receive theRF signal via the antenna 224, and demodulate the RF signal to abaseband signal. The baseband signal may be communicated to theBluetooth application 220, which may communicate audio signals to thespeaker/earpiece 228 such that the hands-free kit user may hear theringing, messages, and/or the called party's portion of theconversation.

In a similar fashion, when the cellular phone user speaks into themicrophone 226, the audio signal may be communicated to the Bluetoothcommunication device 222, where the audio signal may be modulated to RFsignal, which may be transmitted via the antenna 224. The Bluetoothcommunication device 212 may receive the RF signal via the antenna 214and may demodulate the RF signal to a baseband signal. The basebandsignal may be communicated to the cellular phone, the host device 200,which may communicate the baseband signal to the called party via acellular communication channel.

FIG. 3 a is a graph illustrating frequency hopping, in connection withan embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 a, there is shown agraph with frequency on the vertical axis and time on the horizontalaxis. There is also shown a frequency range of frequencies from 2.402gigahertz (GHz) to 2.480 GHz, and a subset of this frequency range withfrequencies from f_(a) to f_(b). There is also shown a plurality ofBluetooth packets 300, 302, . . . , 322, transmitted at times t₀, t₁, .. . , t₁₁. The frequency range from 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz may be thespectrum utilized by Bluetooth communication devices. The frequencyrange from f_(a) to f_(b) may be the spectrum utilized by, for example,a wireless local area network (WLAN) utilizing the IEEE 802.11 standard.

In operation, the Bluetooth device, for example, the host device 200(FIG. 2), may transmit packets where each packet may be transmitted at adifferent frequency. This may be referred to as frequency hopping. Theadvantage of frequency hopping may be that the information transmittedmay be spread over a wide spectrum of frequencies, and therefore, noiseat any part of the spectrum may only affect a portion of the informationtransmitted. The noise may be any signal in the transmit frequency rangethat affects the transmitted information. For example, if WLAN devicesare transmitting in the frequency range f_(a) to f_(b), a receivingBluetooth device may determine that packets 304, 306 and 322 may becorrupted. The receiving Bluetooth device may request retransmission ofthese packets.

FIG. 3 b is a graph illustrating adaptive frequency hopping, inconnection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 b,there is shown a graph similar to the graph referred to in FIG. 3 a.However, in this graph, an implementation of adaptive frequency hoppingmay determine the frequencies at which the corrupted packets, forexample, the packets 304, 306 and 322 with respect to FIG. 3 a, may havebeen transmitted. The Bluetooth devices may then determine that there isinterference at these frequencies, and may block out these frequenciesby mapping these frequencies to different frequencies. Accordingly, thepackets 304, 306 and 322 may be transmitted at different frequencies.

However, the adaptive frequency hopping algorithm may map a transmissionfrequency to another frequency that may also interfere with anothercommunication device. For example, the reassigned frequency may still bewithin the spectrum of frequencies from f_(a) to f_(b). The Bluetoothdevices may determine that this frequency also has interference and mayblock it out. In this manner, frequencies that are known to interferemay be blocked out such that transmission of information may beefficient.

FIG. 4 a is a block diagram illustrating a host with multiple Bluetoothcommunication devices, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 4 a, there is shown a host device 400, anapplication controller 405, Bluetooth communication device_1 410, . . .. Bluetooth communication device_n 420, and a plurality of antennas 412. . . 422.

The host device 400 may be similar to the host device 210 (FIG. 2) orthe host device 220 (FIG. 2) in that it communicates with a Bluetoothcommunication device. However, the host device 400 may communicate withone or more Bluetooth communication devices, for example, the Bluetoothcommunication device_1 410, . . . , and Bluetooth communication device_n420. The application controller 405 may comprise suitable circuitry,logic, and/or code that may be adapted to control and/or communicate toa plurality of Bluetooth applications and/or Bluetooth communicationdevices on the host device 400.

The host device 400 may have more than one Bluetooth communicationdevice for a few reasons. A first reason may be that if the bandwidthprovided by a Bluetooth communication device is insufficient, anotherBluetooth communication device may be added for additional bandwidth.For example, a user may be downloading a streaming video file,downloading music files, and talking on a voice over IP (VoIP)connection. The user may find that downloading the video file and theaudio file is interfering with his VoIP connection. Accordingly, it maybe useful to be able to offload downloading of the video file to anotherpiconet where it may be downloaded in its own dedicated piconet. Thedownloading of the audio files and the VoIP conversation may be on aseparate piconet and, therefore, may not be adversely affected by thevideo download.

A second reason may be if the user has more than seven Bluetoothapplications, and the user wants to run all the applications at once.For example, the user may be using a PC with a wireless mouse, awireless keyboard, a connection to a PDA, a connection to a laptop, aconnection to a printer, a connection to a scanner, music beingdownloaded from a Bluetooth enabled CD player, and a synchronizingapplication between the PC and a cell phone to download messages and/orupdate a phonebook. Because a piconet may only handle eight devices, onemaster and seven slaves, if the Bluetooth communication device on the PCis the only master, the Bluetooth communication device would not be ableto handle all the desired applications. Therefore, it may be necessaryto have another Bluetooth communication device to handle some of theapplications.

However, if a host device has more than one Bluetooth communicationdevice, the Bluetooth communication devices may interfere with eachother's transmitted signals if the transmit frequencies overlap.Accordingly, the application controller 405, which may be an applicationlayer program, for example, may determine how many Bluetoothapplications may be on the host device, and then determine how thoseapplications may be allocated to specific Bluetooth communicationdevices. The algorithm for allocating applications to Bluetooth devicesmay be design and/or implementation dependent. An algorithm may takeinto account, for example, the expected bandwidth required by theBluetooth application, the expected maximum burst rate of data for theBluetooth application, and the expected average data rate for theBluetooth application. The application may have associated with it anidentifying code, or identifier. Allocation may further be dependent onthe frequencies available for the Bluetooth communication devices,and/or bandwidth available to each of the Bluetooth communicationdevices.

The application controller 405 may further determine, via an algorithmthat may be design or implementation dependent, the frequenciesavailable to each Bluetooth communication device. For example, if thereare two Bluetooth communication devices, odd frequencies may be assignedto one of the two Bluetooth communication devices and even frequenciesto the other of the two Bluetooth communication devices. Or, forexample, if some frequencies are not to be used because of knowninterferences with other communication systems, for example, a localarea network (LAN) using the IEEE 802.11 standard, the remainingfrequencies that may be used may be assigned in an alternating manner tothe two Bluetooth communication devices. The frequencies assigned may becommunicated to the Bluetooth communication devices so that they may beutilized by the Bluetooth communication devices for transmitting andreceiving.

The application controller 405 may further determine which frequenciesmay be available for Bluetooth transmission, that is, which frequenciesdo not have known interferences with other communication devices. Theapplication controller may then reassign the frequencies that may notinterfere with the Bluetooth communication devices. Additionally, theapplication controller 405 may reallocate the Bluetooth applications tothe Bluetooth communication devices. An algorithm for reallocation,which may be similar to the algorithm for allocation, may take intoaccount, for example, the bandwidth required by the Bluetoothapplication, the maximum burst rate of data for the Bluetoothapplication, and the average data rate for the Bluetooth application.Reallocation may also be dependent on the frequencies available for theBluetooth communication devices and/or bandwidth available to each ofthe Bluetooth communication devices.

FIG. 4 b is a graph illustrating frequencies transmitted by twoBluetooth communication devices, in connection with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 4 b, there is shown a frequency of 2.402gigahertz (GHz) that is the lower limit of the Bluetooth frequencyspectrum, and a frequency 2.480 GHz that is the upper limit of theBluetooth frequency spectrum. There is also shown a plurality oftransmissions labeled 430 . . . 452 and a plurality of transmissionslabeled 460, 462, 464, and 466 that may indicate a portion of theBluetooth transmissions by a first Bluetooth communication device and asecond Bluetooth communication device, respectively. Each of thetransmissions 430 . . . 466 may have associated with it a frequency andtime of transmission.

Although the implementation of frequency hopping by the Bluetoothcommunication devices may generally allow communication withoutinterference, there may be instances when Bluetooth communicationdevices may interfere with each other. Interference may be exacerbatedby a plurality of Bluetooth communication devices within a very smallgeographic area, or when one or more Bluetooth communication deviceutilizes multi-slot transmission. For example, the PC 100 (FIG. 1) maybe transmitting songs to the PDA 120 (FIG. 1) using five time slots perfrequency, and the PDA 120 may be playing the song at real time.

The first Bluetooth communication device may transmit at each of timeinstances t₀ . . . t₁₁. The second Bluetooth communication device maytransmit at time instances t₄, t₇, and t₁₀. The transmissions 430 and460 at time instances t₀ and t₁, respectively, may be at the samefrequency f₁, but the transmissions may occur at different times.Therefore, there may not be any interference between the transmissions430 and 460. The transmission 460 at time instance t₁ by the secondBluetooth communication device may occur at the same time astransmissions 432, 434 and 436 at time instances t₁, t₂, and t₃ by thefirst Bluetooth communication device, however, there may be nointerference because the frequencies may not be the same. However,transmission 438 by the first Bluetooth communication device at timeinstance t₄ may interfere with the transmission 462 at time instance t₄by the second Bluetooth communication device since both transmissionsmay use the same frequency f₂. Similarly, there may be interferencebetween transmission 452 by the first Bluetooth communication device attime instance t₁₁ and the transmission 466 at time instance by t₁₁ thesecond Bluetooth communication device because they may use the samefrequency f₃.

This figure is described with both Bluetooth communication devicessynchronized with respect to transmitting times for illustrativepurposes. Offsetting the transmission times of one device with respectto the other device will still provide examples where the two devicesmay interfere with each other.

FIG. 4 c is a graph illustrating frequencies assigned to two Bluetoothcommunication devices, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 4 c, there is shown frequencies 470 . . .486 that may be assigned to a plurality of Bluetooth communicationdevices residing on a single host device. For example, the Bluetoothcommunication device_1 410 (FIG. 4 a) may be assigned frequencies 470 .. . 476 that may be different from the frequencies 480 . . . 486assigned to the Bluetooth communication device_n 420 (FIG. 4 a).Accordingly, the transmission by the Bluetooth communication device_1410 may not interfere with the transmission by the Bluetoothcommunication device_n 420 since the two devices may not transmit at thesame frequency, even if they do transmit at the same time. Similarly,other Bluetooth communication devices on the host device 400 (FIG. 4 a)may be assigned their own distinct set of frequencies.

An algorithm for the frequency assignment may be design and/orimplementation dependent. For example, an algorithm implementation maycomprise assigning each of a plurality of bands of contiguousfrequencies to each of a plurality of Bluetooth communication devices.Another algorithm implementation may randomly select frequencies in theBluetooth frequency range and assign those frequencies to each of aplurality of Bluetooth communication devices. Another algorithmimplementation may select specific frequencies, which may not becontiguous, for each of the plurality of Bluetooth communicationdevices.

As an example, an algorithm for assigning frequencies to two Bluetoothcommunication devices on the same host device, for example, theBluetooth communication device_1 410 and Bluetooth communicationdevice_n 420 on the host device 400, may comprise assigning evenfrequencies to the Bluetooth communication device_1 410 and oddfrequencies to the Bluetooth communication device_n 420. Accordingly,the frequencies 470 . . . 476 may comprise the even frequencies that maybe assigned to, for example, the Bluetooth communication device_1 410.Similarly, the frequencies 480 . . . 486 may comprise the oddfrequencies that may be assigned to, for example, the Bluetoothcommunication device_n 420. In this manner, the two Bluetooth devicesmay not interfere with each other while frequency hopping.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating frequency separationfor multiple Bluetooth communication devices on a single host device, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5,step 500 comprises determining the number of Bluetooth enabledapplications on a host device. Step 510 comprises estimating bandwidthrequirements for the Bluetooth enabled applications on the host device.Step 520 comprises allocating Bluetooth enabled applications toBluetooth communication devices. Step 530 comprises assigningfrequencies to each Bluetooth communication device for adaptivefrequency hopping.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 a, and 5, the steps 500 to 530 may be utilizedto assign frequencies to a plurality of Bluetooth communication devices,for example, the Bluetooth communication device_1 410 and the Bluetoothcommunication device_n 420, for use in adaptive frequency hopping. Instep 500, a number of Bluetooth applications that are present on thehost device, for example, the PC 100, may be determined. The Bluetoothapplications may be for devices such as a wireless mouse, a wirelesskeyboard, or interfacing to a PDA to synchronize address books and/orappointments.

In step 510, the bandwidth requirements of the Bluetooth enabledapplications may be estimated. This may be accomplished to load balancethe Bluetooth applications among the various Bluetooth communicationdevices, or to assign a bandwidth intensive application to its ownpiconet. For example, if a host device, for example, the PDA 120, has aBluetooth application that downloads video files and other Bluetoothapplications, for example, a cellular phone hands-free application, itmay be desirable to separate the video download application and thecellular phone hands-free application to different Bluetoothcommunication devices. In this manner, the downloading of the videofiles may be accomplished without being affected by and/or affectingother applications that need to share the Bluetooth bandwidth.

In step 520, the various Bluetooth applications on the host device maybe allocated to the plurality of Bluetooth communication devices. Thismay be accomplished by taking into account various factors such as, forexample, bandwidth estimates of the various Bluetooth applications andnumber of the Bluetooth applications. An application that is expected touse more bandwidth than other applications may be assigned by itself toa Bluetooth communication device, or with other applications that maynot be expected to use a lot of bandwidth. If the Bluetoothcommunication devices provide different available bandwidths, thoseBluetooth applications that require, or are expected to require, morebandwidths than others may be allocated to the Bluetooth communicationdevice that provides the higher bandwidth.

In step 530, sets of frequencies may be assigned to the plurality ofBluetooth communication devices. This may be necessary to keep theplurality of Bluetooth communication devices on the same host devicefrom interfering with each other while they are transmitting. Byassigning a specific set of frequencies for adaptive frequency hopping,the various Bluetooth communication devices may not interfere with eachother during transmission. The sets of frequencies assigned to thevarious Bluetooth communication devices on a Bluetooth device may bedetermined by an algorithm that may be design and/or implementationdependent. For example, an algorithm for two Bluetooth communicationdevices in a host device may assign even frequencies to one Bluetoothcommunication device and odd frequencies to the other Bluetoothcommunication device. Another example may be an algorithm that assignsfrequencies among the Bluetooth communication devices in a host devicein an alternating manner. For example, if there are three Bluetoothcommunication devices in a device host, every third frequency may beassigned to each Bluetooth communication device. These exemplary schemesmay be modified by taking in to account the frequencies that have knowninterferences. These frequencies may be removed from the list offrequencies that may be assigned, and the remaining frequencies may beassigned to the Bluetooth communication devices.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating frequency separationfor multiple Bluetooth communication devices on a single host devicewith frequency reassignment and application reallocation, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, steps 600 to630 may be similar to the steps 500 to 530 with respect to the FIG. 5.Step 600 comprises determining the number of Bluetooth enabledapplications on a host device. Step 610 comprises estimating bandwidthrequirements for the Bluetooth enabled applications on the host device.Step 620 comprises assigning Bluetooth enabled applications to Bluetoothcommunication devices. Step 630 comprises assigning frequencies to eachBluetooth communication device for adaptive frequency hopping. Step 640comprises determining whether frequencies assigned to each Bluetoothcommunication device may need to be reassigned. Step 650 comprisesdetermining whether Bluetooth applications need to be reallocated toeach Bluetooth communication device.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 a, and 6, the steps 600 to 650 may be utilizedto assign frequencies to a plurality of Bluetooth communication devices,for example, the Bluetooth communication device_1 410 and the Bluetoothcommunication device_n 420, for use in adaptive frequency hopping. Instep 600, a number of Bluetooth applications that are present on thehost device, for example, the PC 100, may be determined. The Bluetoothapplications may be for devices such as a wireless mouse, a wirelesskeyboard, or interfacing to a PDA to synchronize address books and/orappointments.

In step 610, the bandwidth requirements of the Bluetooth enabledapplications may be estimated. This may be accomplished to load balancethe Bluetooth applications among the various Bluetooth communicationdevices, or to assign a bandwidth intensive application to its ownpiconet. For example, if a host device, for example, the PDA 120, has aBluetooth application that downloads video files and other Bluetoothapplications, for example, a cellular phone hands-free application, itmay be desirable to separate the video download application and thecellular phone hands-free application to different Bluetoothcommunication devices. In this manner, the downloading of the videofiles may be accomplished without being affected by other applicationsthat need to share the Bluetooth bandwidth.

In step 620, the various Bluetooth applications on the host device maybe allocated to the plurality of Bluetooth communication devices. Thismay be accomplished by taking into account various factors such as, forexample, bandwidth estimates of the various Bluetooth applications,number of the Bluetooth applications, and bandwidths of the variousBluetooth communication devices. An application that is expected to usemore bandwidth than other applications may be assigned by itself to aBluetooth communication device, or with other applications that may notbe expected to use a lot of bandwidth. If the Bluetooth communicationdevices provide different available bandwidths, those Bluetoothapplications that require, or are expected to require, more bandwidththan others may be allocated to the Bluetooth communication device thatprovides the higher bandwidth.

In step 630, sets of frequencies may be assigned to the plurality ofBluetooth communication devices. This may be necessary to keep theplurality of Bluetooth communication devices on the same host devicefrom interfering with each other while they are transmitting. Byassigning a specific set of frequencies for adaptive frequency hopping,the various Bluetooth communication devices may not interfere with eachother during transmission. The sets of frequencies assigned to thevarious Bluetooth communication devices on a Bluetooth device may bedetermined by an algorithm that may be design and/or implementationdependent. For example, an algorithm for two Bluetooth communicationdevices in a host device may assign even frequencies to one Bluetoothcommunication device and odd frequencies to the other Bluetoothcommunication device. Another example may be an algorithm that assignsfrequencies among the Bluetooth communication devices in a host devicein an alternating manner. For example, if there are three Bluetoothcommunication devices in a device host, every third frequency may beassigned to each Bluetooth communication device. These exemplary schemesmay be modified by taking into account the frequencies that have knowninterferences. These frequencies may be removed from the list offrequencies that may be assigned, and the remaining frequencies may beassigned to the Bluetooth communication devices.

In step 640, the frequencies assigned to the Bluetooth communicationdevices, for example, the Bluetooth communication device_1 410 and theBluetooth communication device_n 420, may be reassigned. Thereassignment may be based, for example, on the Bluetooth frequenciesthat may interfere with frequencies used by other communication devices.The manner of reassigning frequencies may be similar to the manner ofassigning frequencies described in step 630.

In step 650, the various Bluetooth applications on the host device maybe reallocated to the plurality of Bluetooth communication devices. Thestep 650 may consider, for example, either the estimated or measuredbandwidth required by the Bluetooth applications, and the number ofBluetooth applications in determining whether to reallocate theBluetooth applications. The manner of reallocating applications may besimilar to the manner of allocating Bluetooth applications described instep 620.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for processing signals in a communication system, the methodcomprising: performing by one or more processors and/or circuits in asingle host device, wherein said single host device comprises aplurality of Bluetooth devices: estimating bandwidth requirements foreach of a plurality of Bluetooth applications to be run on said singlehost device; determining available frequencies to be utilized by each ofsaid plurality of Bluetooth devices based on said estimated bandwidthrequirements; and allocating said each of said plurality of Bluetoothapplications to corresponding one or more of said plurality of Bluetoothdevices based on said determined available frequencies.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, comprising concurrently running said allocatedeach of said plurality of Bluetooth applications on said correspondingone ore more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein said estimated bandwidth requirementscomprise a maximum data burst rate and/or an average data rate expectedby said each of said plurality of Bluetooth applications.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, comprising assigning said determined availablefrequencies to said corresponding one or more of said plurality ofBluetooth devices based on said estimated bandwidth requirements.
 5. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein said assigned available frequenciesdo not cause additional interferences among said plurality of Bluetoothdevices.
 6. The method according to claim 4, comprising allocating saideach of said plurality of Bluetooth applications to said correspondingone or more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices based on saidassigned available frequencies and/or said estimated bandwidthrequirements.
 7. The method according to claim 6, comprising reassigningsaid determined available frequencies to said corresponding one or moreof said plurality of Bluetooth devices if said assigned availablefrequencies need to be reassigned after said allocating.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein said reassigned available frequencies donot cause additional interferences among said plurality of Bluetoothdevices.
 9. The method according to claim 7, comprising determiningwhether said allocated each of said plurality of Bluetooth applicationsneed to be reallocated to said corresponding one or more of saidplurality of Bluetooth devices based on said estimated bandwidthrequirements and/or said reassigned available frequencies.
 10. Themethod according to claim 9, comprising reallocating said allocated eachof said plurality of Bluetooth applications to said corresponding one ormore of said plurality of Bluetooth devices based on said determination.11. A system for signal processing, the system comprising: one or moreprocessors and/or circuits for use within in a single host device,wherein said single host device comprises a plurality of Bluetoothdevices, said one or more processors and/or circuits being operable to:estimate bandwidth requirements for each of a plurality of Bluetoothapplications to be run on said single host device; determine availablefrequencies to be utilized by each of said plurality of Bluetoothdevices based on said estimated bandwidth requirements; and allocatesaid each of said plurality of Bluetooth applications to correspondingone or more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices based on saiddetermined available frequencies.
 12. The system according to claim 11,wherein one or more processors and/or circuits are operable toconcurrently run said allocated each of said plurality of Bluetoothapplications on said corresponding one ore more of said plurality ofBluetooth devices.
 13. The system according to claim 11, wherein saidestimated bandwidth requirements comprise a maximum data burst rateand/or an average data rate expected by said each of said plurality ofBluetooth applications.
 14. The system according to claim 11, whereinone or more processors and/or circuits are operable to assign saiddetermined available frequencies to said corresponding one or more ofsaid plurality of Bluetooth devices based on said estimated bandwidthrequirements.
 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein saidassigned available frequencies do not cause additional interferencesamong said plurality of Bluetooth devices.
 16. The system according toclaim 14, wherein one or more processors and/or circuits are operable toallocate said each of said plurality of Bluetooth applications to saidcorresponding one or more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices basedon said assigned available frequencies and/or said estimated bandwidthrequirements.
 17. The system according to claim 16, wherein one or moreprocessors and/or circuits are operable to reassign said determinedavailable frequencies to said corresponding one or more of saidplurality of Bluetooth devices if said assigned available frequenciesneed to be reassigned after said allocating.
 18. The system according toclaim 17, wherein said reassigned available frequencies do not causeadditional interferences among said plurality of Bluetooth devices. 19.The system according to claim 17, wherein one or more processors and/orcircuits are operable to determine whether said allocated each of saidplurality of Bluetooth applications need to be reallocated to saidcorresponding one or more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices basedon said estimated bandwidth requirements and/or said reassignedavailable frequencies.
 20. The system according to claim 19, wherein oneor more processors and/or circuits are operable to reallocate saidallocated each of said plurality of Bluetooth applications to saidcorresponding one or more of said plurality of Bluetooth devices basedon said determination.